The Guavalicious Life

I hope all of you mothers out there have had a fabulous day. Mine consisted of sleeping in until ten, eating brown sugar bacon and chocolate croissants in bed, reading an entire book, Zumba, shopping, and a dinner of fajitas. Pretty perfect.

As I hugged my girls before bed tonight, I thanked them for making me a mother. As crazy as they are, I love having girls. Especially wild girls like mine.

I can’t wait to take them to see Brave so I thought I would share this clip as my Sunday Smile post:

Happy Mother’s Day from Brave

As a blogger, I get a lot of press releases and invitations to review random items. Most of them I turn down since I don’t consider myself a review blogger. But something made me say yes when the offer to review a new journal for moms landed in my inbox.

And boy am I glad I did.

For My Children: A Mother’s Journal of Memories, Wishes and Wisdom is so much more than I expected it to be. The design and simplicity of it speak to me and i was surprised how much the prompts inspired me. I actually look forward to sitting down and writing about my life.

As I write, I picture my girls reading this when they are mothers themselves and learning about a new side of me. I hope that it will inspire them to write down their own memories.

Here’s a photo of the cover:

And the description from Amazon:
“As a mother ages and sees her children go off into the world, she begins reflecting on her time as a mom and yearns to share memories with her kids. Beautifully designed and illustrated, this perfect gift contains creative prompts that spark Mom’s recollections of fun family vacations, favorite childhood games, and special holidays. The thought-provoking queries allow Mom to delve into her own lifetime of experiences — her childhood and school years, falling in love and getting married, and, most of all, having and raising children. This collection of fill-in-the-blank lists is the easiest way for a mother to record on paper answers to the questions her children never thought to ask but will love to discover.”

I originally conceived this book as part of a Mother’s Day Gift Guide but I feel that this book is more a gift from a mom to herself. It allows you to clear your head and capture those small moments that make motherhood so sweet. Do yourself a favor and order one today.

The weekend is fast approaching. Have you scheduled any you time?

Yes, I know, childhood is fleeting and all that. But a happy parent is a good parent. And you need some time to yourself! And if you’re partnered up, you and your better half almost certainly need some couple time.

So what keeps us from doing it? I know one issue for me is actually remembering to not only get the dates on the calendar but also getting a sitter for those events we can’t miss. My bookkeeping leaves something to be desired. I often have to hunt down scraps of paper to get find names and numbers. And when I do it’s a convoluted system to actually get them scheduled. Half the time I end up with two sitters and half the time I end up with none at all.

Enter SitterScout.com. This new site not only allows you to store all of your sitters’ information and the dates you need them, it also allows you to schedule your babysitters (from your desktop or smartphone.)

It only took me a few minutes (well a few minutes after I tracked down those scraps of paper) to get everyone’s info (email and phone) entered. Then I took a look at April, decided when I needed dates, and sent out my requests. They received them in the favored communication of youngsters (texting, email is so passe) and were able to text me back a yes or a no.

Check it out:

Easy, peasy, shomeasy.

Yeah baby, April is going to be all about me. Oh, and date night too. Join me won’t you? Give SitterScout a whirl!

Disclosure: I was compensated for this post.

You know spring has sprung when I wake up hacking and have to sleep sitting up on the couch so I don’t choke to death on cough drops (or die from smothering from a husband sick of snoring.

It’s a pity really, March 20th should be an exciting day for us. We got engaged on the first day of Spring and while I am not a huge celebrator of small anniversaries like that. But it would be nice to memorialize the day with something besides sneezing for once.

And this year, I kind of got to! I haven’t found the miracle cure or anything, I am still sneezing up a storm, but the hacking and sore throat that usually keep me up (and almost always develop into a sinus infection) are not with me this year. I finally kicked them to the curb with Waterpik’s SinuSense.

I have to admit that I was dubious when I was asked to review it. It’s not that I don’t think sinus rinsing works, I know it is a great natural remedy for allergies. It was more that I didn’t think I needed a Waterpik branded one. After all, I have a perfectly lovely neti pot in my cabinet as well as a few other nasal washes knocking around the house.

Why add one more?
What made the difference?
You might know after looking at the picture:

It was so easy that I actually DID it every night. Turns out nasal washing works a lot better when you actually made a habit of doing it. I am loving Spring this year and happy to celebrate this special day with something other than a red nose. And the SinuSense has inspired me to keep up with my other natural remedies for allergies, like eating local honey.

Want to know more? You can check out a video of it in action here. The Facebook page has some great info too. SinuSense is also on Twitter. Their website also has some greta coupons if you want to try it out for yourself. SinuSense by WaterPik– retails for $29.99.

Disclosure: In addition to the product, I was compensated for my time.

Some (like my husband) say St. Patrick’s Day is not a real holiday.

Pashaw I say!

Not only am I Irish and a lover of beer (in any darkish hue, no green for me please) but I also look excellent in green. So I usually manage to do St. Pat’s up in some form. However, this year due to my post SXSWi insanity I don’t think I will be doing anything beyond donning a lucky shirt for my friend’s potluck.

But in my fantasy, perfect wife and mother world, I making these…

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes by Dave Lieberman
Makes 24 cupcakes; 40 min total time
Recipe/pic c/o A Bullseye View

What You’ll Need
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for dusting finished cupcakes
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch fine salt
1 bottle stout beer (recommended: Guinness)
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
1 (1-pound) box confectioners sugar

What You’ll Do
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
3. Lightly grease 24 muffin tins. Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full.

Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pans. Bake another 12 to 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Let cool.
4. Icing: In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the heavy cream. On low speed, slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Icing can be made several hours ahead and kept covered and chilled.
5. Top each cupcake with a heap of frosting and dust with cocoa.

Wow, SXSW Interactive. That was intense man. I kept thinking the entire time I was there that I couldn’t wait to get home and write about it. It’s just such a different experience than the blogging and marketing conferences I have gone to. The conference basically takes over that section of Austin and there is an event or session for almost any thing you can think of. Even five days wasn’t enough to take it all in.

I’ve decided that it will probably take five days to really do it justice so I have been working on posts to post all next week. But I couldn’t resist sneaking in a post about LiveOn. I am currently an ambassador for them and was so excited when my husband and business partner met them out one night. It was like they had a brush with a real life celebrity. I begged my business partner to dig up the card and email them but, perhaps put off by my stalker like enthusiasm, he refused.

So I didn’t get to meet them in person but I was thrilled that I could cheer for them at the Interactive Awards. They were a finalist in the Technical Achievement category. SXSWi describes this sites/companies in this category as…

These are the projects that are re-inventing and re-defining the technical parameters of our online experience.

And to that I give a big ole HELL YES. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to play around with LiveOn as much as I would like because I’ve been dragging my heels on my conversion kit (they scan all your photos for you, yeeha!) because due to moving and an unfortunate incident where my husband threw out a bag of photos, I don’t have that many actual photos. So my mom just brought me a bunch from home and soon I will send them off and regale my followers and friends with pictures of me as an akward girl scout.

Holy tangent there.

Anyway, as I was saying, I totally get why LiveOn was nominated in the technical achievement category because they have totally taken the online photo album idea to a whole new level. It’s more like a newfangled scrapbook. Without the rick rack of course because mama likes rick rack on her dresses, not on her photos.

They do this whole interactive time capsule thing where you can add in memories and thoughts and audio clips, etc. etc. so it’s like diving into a memory. It will make you want to share those awkward photos too. I promise.

The best part? They are based in KC (Kansas City) so take that coast cities. We’ve got a whole bunch of awesomeness going on in the Midwest. We’re not just the fly overs anymore.

Every once in awhile a random no longer cool catchphrase pops into my head and I CAN NOT STOP SAYING IT. Even I know it’s rather annoying. My poor husband has been treated to way too much #winning this week. I am saying it with a sarcastic tone but it doesn’t make it any less dorky. So the theme of my Friday Favorites is WINNING!

1. We’re all about whole foods in this household but sometimes we need a healthy packaged food for car trips and morning runs to the gym. Lately I am loving the new Milk Bite milk and granola bars from Kraft. The girls and I tried some samples (c/o of Kraft) and they are crazy about the strawberry ones. Unlike most packaged foods, they contain no preservatives or artificial colors. And the girls can open them on their own. Winning. They are in the refrigerated aisle and cost $3.49 for a box of five. That $3.50 is well worth another thirty minutes of sleep.

2. We’re on vacation this week and we spent the first three nights at a Hyatt Place. I could totally live in the room we had. It’s huge with a separate (sleeper) sofa hang out area, an office area, and sleeping area. This would be a great place to stay with the girls on our weekend jaunts. And it is so going to be my work travel hotel of choice. The only thing that bugged me was the lack of bathtub. At least the Earth is #winning.

3. My new hostess gift? Marshmallow BonBons. I don’t think that is the actual name of them. But it’s what I call the treats I received c/o of Marshmallow Mischief. You are almost guaranteed that the person you gift these to has not had them before. The flavors are deliciously luscious (and licious! check out the Gingerlicious (Cinnamon + Candied Ginger)!)

4. I am going to get real here and tell you that the one thing I just don’t like about myself is my skin. My Irish heritage didn’t give me a good start and my laziness isn’t helping. Naturally I have tried every skin product under the sun. Some of them work, some of them don’t but few of them get a fair shake because I just don’t have the time to stick to it. That’s why I love the Murad Intensive Resurfacing Peel so much. You can see a difference right away and it is gentle. I break out from someone touching me and it didn’t irritate my skin at all. I received a box c/o of Murad but they are a steal at $45 for four. So worth it!! Trust. You skin will be #winning!

5. Tomorrow I finally get to head to one of my most anticipated SXSWi events: Beauty Bar X. Looking forward to hearing about technology trends in everything from tablets to fashion with some of my fellow female techies. One of the event sponsors is Buyosphere. This beta site finds recommendations for almost any product question. Their mission: “We connect people who know something about stuff, where to find great deals or interesting pieces with people who need to find something that is right for them, but don’t know where to start.” More visual eye candy to get lost in? #Winning!

We’re on day six of our SXSW Interactive trip! Today we finally check into our conference hotel for six nights and five days of full on technology goodness. Can’t wait! I really love conferences and how energized I get from them. What I don’t love is how run down I get from staying up too late and eating sporadically (and drinking too much.)

Luckily right before I left on the trip, I was given a month’s membership to GaiamTV from Mom Spark Media. I’ve been using it to exercise in my hotel room. It has all kind of fitness videos including yoga videos and exercise videos. Plus there are wellness videos that help me my spirit and body healthy. I even watched a few of the inspirational movies during the plane ride.

Here’s my own inspiration quote:

Giveaway: Want to give the fitness videos and workout videos a try and get healthy where ever you are? I am giving away a 3 month’s subscription to the Gaiam TV site (a $30.00 value) to one reader. To enter comment below with your favorite healthy tip; winner will be chose at random (U.S. only please.) For one more entry, tweet out your tip on Twitter with the hashtag #InspireGaiamTV and @guavalicious. Just leave a comment with the link to your tweet for the extra entry. This giveaway closes April 1st. Good luck!

Disclosure: This promotional sponsored post was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. All prizing for MSM giveaways is handled by a third party unless otherwise noted. For this reason, prize fulfillment can take up to 90 days after the winners information is received.

Hard to believe that SXSWi starts tomorrow! I feel like I have been anticipating it for weeks and now that we check into our hotel tomorrow, I am like a kid on Christmas eve. I only have one thing left to endure, my husband bitching about heavy my luggage is. The is the first time in years (including my honeymoon, a two week trip to Italy, and BlogHerx2) that I have checked a bag. And that bag is mainly filled with books and papers.

I tend to look at vacations, much to my family’s consternation, as a time to catch up on things. And since this is a working vacation, I brought double the stuff to catch up on. A big portion of that stuff is books I have been meaning to read. Most of them are new media specific but I made room for a few general business ones. And a stand out has been The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom

Unlike most of the business books I have been reading lately, The Barefoot Executive offers practical advice that I can put into action immediately. I loved the exercises in the book; they really helped me clarify my thoughts.

But perhaps the best part of the book is the relatbaility of the author. Our paths to owning our own businesses are very similar, as our backgrounds. And I adore the fact that though she frequently mentions her family as a motivation for working for herself, it’s done in a matter of fact way not in a gushing “my children are my life” way which is the usual in books written by successful moms. Her business like tone really resonates with me. I feel like this is one of the few entrpuener books I have read that really approach owning your own business in a professional way. If you’re just starting out like me, or wanting to make the jump to working for yourself, I highly recommend picking up this books and/or checking out the Barefoot Executive website (which has a ton of great resources!)

You can find the author Carrie Wilkerson on Twitter and Facebook, as well as on her website.

Disclosure: I received a copy of The Barefoot Executive to review from Living The Moment. All thoughts on this post, and everything else written on this blog, are my own.

So you may have noticed I have been almost completely offline most of this year. My life was a mess and something had to give. Turns out that something was personal blogging.

The truth is, I can’t do it all. At least I couldn’t in my totally disorganized state. Since I had started working from home last spring (in addition to my work at home job as indentured servant) my house and life had continually spiraled towards disasterdom. And I so wasn’t taking good care of myself, my autoimmune disease was in full flareup due to my snacking diet and the ten pounds I gained from it. So in January, I stopped all personal blogging, finished up my current contracts, and concentrated on getting my house and life organized.

What a difference! Now that my house is in order and my schedule organised, I have a clear mind (and space!) to work in. No more working on contracts and projects at two am. No more uninspired review posts. No more constant sickness from being run down.

After I got my house in working order, it was time to get my work life in order. I needed to stop making the kitchen table my desk, especially when I had a perfectly nice home office waiting for me downstairs. For some reason I had decided it would be better filled with everything I did not have a place for. I am not going to lie, those things got moved to the guest room instead of disappearing, but now I have a clean space. With a door that shuts.

Next up was my schedule. I was trying to fit work in when I had free moments. And as a parent, those momenrts were few and far between. That’s how I ended up working until two in the morning every night. Now my family, friends, and the girls’ school know that I am just not sitting at home eating bonbons, I am working from 9-12 and 1-4 and cannot be disturbed during those times. I do paperwork on Saturdays and personal blogging on Sundays. I also started saying no more and pulled out of everything that wasn’t enriching my life. My priorities are my family, my work, and my friends. And my sanity too.

The one thing I am still really working on is my professionalism. A lot of the work I do is also done by agencies and firms in town and to compete with them I have had to step up my game. I have assembled a list of resources from website designers to SEO experts. And I know who to go to for printing now. Having been online for so long I sort of forget that people still need actual items in their hand from time to time. I have started using an online print firm that allows me to upload my custom design. Now I have high quality booklets to hand out to potential customers for way less than I was paying at the chain stores. And I can produce anything from notepads to catalogs for my customers.

So that’s how I got my life back and turned into an actual worker, albeit one that works in sweatpants. I would love to hear what your tips are for keeping sane while working at home. Got any advice for me?